Gearwrench has adopted a new marketing focus in recent months, and it seems they’re trying to appeal to pro users who might otherwise go with Snap-on and other tool truck brands.
In a recent post, Gearwrench featured an image saying “don’t play by their rules.” Their caption read:
Big Tool franchise brands will tell you that those eye-popping price tags are totally justified and it’s the logo on your tools that’s most important, not what they can help you accomplish. So tell us – do you believe them?
Advertisement
Around the start of this year, Gearwrench posted:
For what Big Tool brands charge for just a box, you should be able to get a whole master tool set. And now, you’re able to. Check out our website to preview our new master sets with MEGA value.
An earlier post said “think a $10K tool box should come with tools?”
They’ve got a point.
Many of Gearwrench’s posts are also advertising their new MegaMod mechanics tool sets.
Gearwrench’s MegaMod tool sets can be pricey – they range from $4,000 to $14,800.
Advertisement
But outfitting your kit with tool truck brands’ tools and tool boxes will set you back further, and lead a lot of new and seasoned pros to get into debt and long-term payment plans.
I have heard about tool truck debt over the years, and how many professional automotive tech can spend their entire paychecks on new tools, especially as they first build up their kit. Others have bought more than they could immediately afford, and then a chunk of their paycheck would go towards monthly tool payments.
There’s benefit to the tool truck business model, but “tool truck debt” is a real issue.
There are more easily-available alternatives today, and it seems to have become more socially acceptable for younger techs to go with brands other than Snap-on, Matco, Mac, and similar, for their tool boxes and tools.
I can’t say whether tool truck debt is as big an issue as it was, or if it got worse, but I’m inclined to think it’s still around.
This is a Snap-on Epiq-series 60″ 10-drawer tool cabinet. I selected this one at random from their online product catalog for a pricing example.
It’s priced at $13,905. Nearly $14K, for a 60″ roller cabinet tool box.
I think it’s safe to assume that many individual users are likely to buy something like that on credit.
This Gearwrench MegaMod bundle features an 871pc tool set, plus a 41″ roller cabinet with top tool chest. At the time of this posting, it retails for $6,600. It’s less than half the price of the Snap-on set.
Just looking at the tool storage, you’re not getting Snap-on features, quality, or expandability, but you’ve got a box with tools. Upgrade what and when you need to.
Gearwrench isn’t the only lower-priced alternative to premium tool truck brands. Their current marketing strategy caught my attention, and I have a feeling they’re going to sing the same song for quite some time.
I started off thinking that of course they’re promoting their own pricey MegaMod tool assortments. It seemed like an odd approach for Gearwrench, but at the same time they don’t seem to be exaggerating anything.
Harbor Freight often has price comparisons for many of their products, and sometimes they have elaborate rundowns, such as this one for their 56″ Icon tool storage system as it compares to a leading tool truck brand.
Gearwrench isn’t just saying their tools are a better value, which has been true for years, they’re now drawing more attention to tool truck debts.
Granted Gearwrench is doing this to sell their own products, but anything done to raise attention to and potentially reduce tool truck debt is a good thing.
At the same time, I feel that Gearwrench’s new MegaMod offerings are a low-effort attempt to jump into the modular tool sets and components market. They’re lagging far behind other brands in this space, and don’t seem to have done anything innovative.
eddie sky
If I was a home owner, hobbyist, that needed to depend on tools for restoring tractors, older cars or trucks, and just plain work to save repair costs, I’d rather get a good cabinet (Kobalt/Craftsman or even US General-aka HF), a good flat work cart with SS top, and spend more on battery-tools than high-quality wrenches. Tekton, Sunex, sales on Craftsman, GearWrench, Husky, Milwaukee, Kobalt, Knipex… are often enough that I can outfit a decent home garage shop for under $2K.
Unless I’m recording for Youtube revenue, there is no need for me to have “pro” tools. I do own GearWrench tools and they are great so far. But my use is… couple times a year on a project. What I need are a matching house/basement set, a vehicle set to supplant my two garage chest of drawers. Oh, and better organizing.
Btw, some time ago, I let a “friend” store his master mechanic Snapon chest of tools in my garage with the “hey, you let me store these here while I have to rent apt for a year, you can use the tools all you want”. He failed to tell me that he hasn’t been a mastermech at a dealership in years, that his ratchets were all in need of replacement from Snapon guy, and that most of his tools were metric…think more than 5 years as mechanic as SAAB is long gone. In otherwords, he was freeloading off me to store/secure his tools I couldn’t use. That “friend” is no more and I’ve my own sets. C’est la vie!
Mopar
Everyone’s mileage may vary, but I really can’t remember the last time I bought SAE mechanic’s tools.
Almost nut and bolt on every car, light truck or compact tractor, American or foreign branded in the past few decades has been metric.
Woudy
Even when I started in 84 everything was metric except motor bolts .
Brendan
funny, lots of stuff on semi truck/trailers are still imperial. I only have SAE impact sockets, no metric as a diesel mech. new stuff, depending on make is having more metric
Lance
My first car, a FWD 1985 Cadillac Sedan De Ville, was all metric except the engine. Ever since then my cars have been all metric. I’ve heard some pickup truck and van architectures had SAE components here and there until 2000 or so. That’s a long time ago.
I do all my own work on cars, everything from brakes to rebuilding transmissions. I’ve never owned a Snap-On, Mac or Matco tool. I doubt I will.
I recently bought new ratchet/socket sets from Tekton. A couple of them have already paid for themselves, and so far I’m pleased with the quality. To me these are still very expensive tools given I don’t make money with them, but the Mastercraft Professional set I got for my 19th birthday sometimes just wasn’t cutting it and it was time for an upgrade.
I just about spit my coffee one day when a co-worker told me how much he paid for a used Snap-On tool cabinet. An empty one. I’m sure it’s nice, but I’m also sure it gets zero work done.
Paul
My 3 late 80s Ford cars are a hodge-podge of a mashup of SAE and Metric.
I had to tear one apart for the heater core last week. Thankfully my old, trusted, early 90s Craftsman carry set is both. The assortment in that particular case is nothing short of magical and I’ve yet to find another similar from any manufacturer in anything close to that price point (108 sockets, 3 ratchets, some wrenches and other stuff all for $99 in 1992).
I found someone local last year selling the exact same case albeit devoid of tools. I was able to fill every spot with Kobalt stuff for $170 shipped to my door and have some extra stuff added to my rolling cart.
mikedt
At this point I thought all cars were metric?
MFC
I’ve never been into a mechanic’s shop and found them to have anything less than multiple tool boxes with the handles covered in grease and grime and the logos banged off and falling apart. I can’t remember if any of them were Snap-on at one point or not, but they held the tools and functioned to keep them somewhat orderly.
If I ever walk into a mechanic’s shop and see a pristine Snap-on box and clean floors, I’ll be walking away because my vehicle isn’t a Rolls-Royce and I am not paying for luxury services.
If you do drive a nice vehicle, then yes, you want the showroom service and Snap-on guy. There’s a niche for everyone.
Ray
When I walk into a shop I expect a clean organized shop. How better for the mechanic to show his professionalism. If a guy can’t take time to clean his tools and floors, how can I expect him to take the time to do a proper job.
As to luxury services, I know the rates before I hire a mechanic.
Ed
Agreed. Doesn’t matter if it’s a $3,000 car or a $30,000 car, I expect some level of professionalism and attention to detail from the people who work on my car.
If a tech doesn’t have enough pride in his tools/box (regardless of manufacturer) to keep them presentable, why would I expect them to maintain a customer vehicle any differently?
Mike S
I buy a lot of second hand tools off of Craigslist. People always want top dollar for used Snap-On tools. What they don’t realize is that there are big financing costs built to the high prices. I’ll pay a fair prices for the tools but I don’t want to pay off someone else’s truck debt.
Ed
There’s also replacement/warranty costs baked into that price as well as the fact that the “store” physically comes to you.
Whether those “benefits” are actually beneficial on an individual level is entirely up to the end user. For a home gamer? I’d say rarely is it worth paying retail.
TomD
There’s a lot of misconceptions in the trades, especially around “business expenses”, “deductible” and many advertisers do little or nothing to dispel them. How many times have you heard “I wrote it off as a business expense” as a justification for some purchase? Just because the government didn’t tax you on the revenue used to purchase it doesn’t mean it was free – though many seem to act as if it were.
Even people who study debt and time value of money have a hard time actually working it out – most people figure out “what they can afford per month” and then spend that. We see it with houses, cars, and in this case, tools.
To be fair to the tool trucks, there was an absolute HUGE difference between random tools and the truck tools twenty years ago – hand tools from Harbor Freight back then were just trash.
Now you can get actually quite serviceable hand tools at any Walmart – the quality of the lowest cost tools has risen significantly.
MFC
Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
Saulac
Amen.
Mike
It’s a shame Gearwrench is moving the manufacture of many of their tools from Taiwan to mainland China with inevitable decline in quality – QC, alloys, fit and finish, etc.
While a comparison with Icon is appropriate, HF seems to be trending towards and using many of the same Taiwan manufacturers as some tool truck brands, while Apex seems to be moving Gearwrench towards Pittsburgh or at best Quinn.
Many tinkerers and those who like maintaining their own vehicles for fun and/or to save money don’t have enough room in a garage to work on a car, so are rolling tool chests the best option here?
If you’re cramming exercise equipment, bikes, lawn/garden/OPE, woodworking, metalworking, assorted storage, maybe a sink, some shoes, water heater, etc… into your garage are you really going to leave any rolling tool chests out on the floor, pro style? If they’re basically permanently placed on a side wall are they still the best option?
If you are auto focused or have a separate shop sure, but if you’re trying to cram everything in one garage, maybe you have to be ruthless with space organization.
Most rolling tool boxes are 18″ deep so that it’s not like moving a safe. The wheels on the bottom could be drawers instead. If one side has fixed casters they can be hard to move with stuff on both sides. 4 swivel casters can be awkward to roll around, especially with hundreds of pounds above them.
Maybe a 22-24″ deep x 36″ tall fixed tool box or base cabinet drawers with all the wrenches, sockets, etc. in organizers is better?
A rack of wrenches and sockets can be loaded on a multi purpose cart with an upper work surface and 1 or 2 lower shelves, along with impact wrenches, and other power tools that often don’t fit well it shallow drawers, along with whatever parts you’re swapping.
Then you have a 36″ high countertop/work surface and your most used power and hand tools on the wall behind, with shelves above.
If you have rolling tool boxes, how often do you roll them around?
Bart
My opinions of truck tools were cemented yesterday when I was out running errands, and saw a Snap On truck that was probably worth more than the 1st home I bought. The tool truck model in 2024 is to the benefit of the manufacturer and the guys running the trucks.
The justification of “I can call up the truck guy, and have a replacement in my hands in a day or two” was pretty well made obsolete when Amazon and other vendors could get serviceable tools in your hands in about the same time frame. Even if the truck tool is “better”, if I can buy 4-5 of the “good enough 99% of the time” tools for the same amount of money, I’m still coming out ahead.
Saulac
Not too sure if the guys running the trucks get much benefits. Like you said it is an outdated business model. But lot of (truck) guys still coming in with huge initial investment thinking it is easy to made sales…..
Scottie
I’m glad Gearwrench is going after the tool truck brands.I’m no master mechanic by any means but I can “play around” and fix most of my own vehicles.Snap-On is just totally over rated and over priced and I don’t even consider them at all.Plus,the few times I’ve even talked to a couple of the Snap-On owner/operators has rubbed me the wrong way.If I want quality tools I look at Wright Tools,Cornwell,vintage USA S-K,vintage USA Craftsman and the occasional oddball misc brands that I can score.And Gearwrench too.I know a lot of people still harbor bad feelings towards Apex for how they killed off Armstrong and Allen and moved all their production to Taiwan pushing Gearwrench as their main brand.But it is what it is.This is big business and no different than people buying so called “foreign” cars over “American” cars in today’s market.I hope Gearwrench really gets a big share of Snap-On’s lunch and desert too.
Scott K
I had never heard of Cornwell until one of their trucks pulled into a body shop that was working on our car. The shop does great work and is an authorized shop for lots of brands.
Mike Jackson
Cornwall has been around since I started as a mechanic back in the early 90’s.
SolidGuy
May I suggest some good value good quality brands? Just I Europeans buy from time to time from amazon.com, you are able to to buy from amazon.de. Today I have seen Wera 1/2″ ratchet for 25 euros, and I can assure you that is on snap-on, facom, hazet level. Sometimes Würth is a good option, and for solid Taiwan stuff you have Proxxon (btw, they have a starter set for like 130 euros with which you can do 80% of possible stuff done on a Japanese car). Greetings from Switzerland.
MM
Tool trucks can definitely be a financial trap for many. I own a Snap-On roll cab and I used to own another which I currently regret selling. I purchased both of them in nearly new condition from people who bit off more than they could chew when it came to making payments and needed to get out from under the debt–there is no way I’d even have remotely considered them at new prices.
As far as their tools go, I think their value really depends on the individual tool. Some of them are very good quality, others are really nothing special with an outrageous price tag.
Joe E.
While it appears to be a nice offering from GearWrench, the quality of their tools has gone downhill.
Has anyone see their ratcheting wrenches lately? The open ends and ratcheting ends of their ratcheting wrenches are the fattest on the market. Lobster claws 🦞 The set I bought well over 10 years ago are super slim and very well built.
Bob
Agreed They used to be high quality Taiwan made stuff, slowly gone downhill to quite cheap china/vietnam made stuff
Ed
Quality has slipped and Gearwrench is an absolute pain to warranty unless you bought from a retail outlet with a fairly liberal policy.
It used to be Advance Auto would stock Gearwrench and warranty sockets without receipt or similar. That is out the window.
Bob
Gotta understand snapon list pricing when comparing because of their business model. That box would likely have a “street” price of $10k and even less after “trade in” and special promos. Still expensive tho.
Bob
Just to expand on my comment, I was offered a “$10k” box for like $5k and it wasn’t like I haggled with em.
Mopar
Back when I started out, the tool trucks were one of the only easy sources for all the specialty tools mechanics need depending on their job. The old fashioned auto parts stores that supplied the pros back in the day might have a few, and would order you the rest, but the tool trucks had tools you never even imagined that saved all sorts of time on a job for only $5 a week, and back we got paid for book time. If the book said 6hrs and I did the job in 4hrs, that was like getting paid time and a half.
Back then, companies like Snap On and Mac actually innovated and brought to market specialty tools suggested to them by the pros , and if you wanted that tool you bought it from them, because there was no Amazon or HF full of cheap Chinese clones of the tool that may or may not work.
Jared
I was going to mention something similar in that tool truck brands historically offer some unique options, some job-specific tools and innovate more often. The tools are almost all top-tier too. So it’s not like they don’t offer ANYTHING for the premium price tag.
However, I can’t help but feel like the disparity between tool truck offerings and what you can get from a number of other brands these days is shrinking.
Most “mid-grade” Taiwanese sockets, ratchets and wrenches are pretty good.
There are tons of German, American, French, etc screwdrivers that seem every bit as stout.
Are you giving up anything by choosing Knipex, NWS or Facom pliers?
Lisle, OTC, VIM etc sure make a lot of specialty tool options… and while the tool truck won’t deliver them to you, often the Amazon truck will by the next day.
Mopar
The disparity is certainly shrinking, but I don’t think it’s because there are more choices now. I think those choices were probably always there, but they were not so readily available.
Neither was information about them.
When I bought my first Knipex wrench, I had never even seen one in the wild, for sale or in use. I read about them online (probably here!) and bought them online. I have an awesome set of extra long combination wrenches made in Taiwan by a company called Toptul. I bought them probably 20yrs ago based on the recommendations in a mechanic’s forum. The internet and websites like ToolGuyd have exposed us to quality tools we might not otherwise have known about, and that same internet allows us to order them from anywhere in the world within minutes, and have them shipped to our door within days.
Not so long ago, if the store or truck didnt have what you wanted, you found a catalog or an ad in Popular Mechanics, filled out a paper form with what you wanted, mailed that off with a check, and then waited 4-8 weeks for your tool to arrive. And you hoped it was a good as the ad said it was.
Eskimo
Serious technicians who want productivity and reliability will buy tools that get the job done faster and better. This is because serious techs know that the faster the job gets done, the more money they can potentially make. So if you make money with your tools, Snap-on, Matco , Cornwell , Icon , etc. tools are a wise investment. But if you are a homeowner and need tools to fix things up now and then, it is a poor investment.
BigTimeTommy
Maybe this wasn’t the case decades ago, but anyone buying tool truck tools today is probably a rube. I know a bunch of underpaid mechanics working off tool truck debt because “mechanics who don’t buy snap on are hacks.” Extremely stupid. I hate marketing and marketers but I like seeing Gearwrench go after tool truck brands like this.
Joe E.
I couldn’t agree more. I work for a heavy equipment dealer and most of our service techs will buy something here and there from the tool truck, but for the most part these guy get their tools from Amazon and Harbor Freight. I see lots of Pittsburg and Sunex out on the floor. Our crane mechanic has a Milwaukee chest full of Husky tools. The only thing SnapOn I do see a lot of out in the shop are their ratchets, but these guys love their cheap Chinese sockets.
Edward J Esterman Iii
Gear wrench has a bad review from mechanics. Used to receive easy replacements for when their stuff flies apart. Both snap on and cornwell could warranty them . Not anymore.
Shame because it was a competitive product.
To gearwrench, how about no cancellations on warranty especially when the warranty company/tool truck sold your item with the expectation of similar ease for replacements.
Gear wrench review =
🙁
Mike (the other one)
Tool Trucks are mostly pointless now. You can get similar quality (or even better) tools from Williams, Proto, Wright, Knipex, Klein, Malco, Lisle, Lang, Tekton, Estwing, Vaughan, Eklind, Bondhus, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Facom, USAG, and many other brands, for a fraction of the price. Many of these brands still offer USA-made tools, and their Taiwan-sourced tools are very good. And you can get them shipped to your door.
Sure, truck brands have a good warranty, but that’s because you have *already* paid for the replacements.
Another Bob
Tool trucks at one point served an important niche. They offered high-quality, sometimes extremely specialized tools, that could be delivered same day. They were able to be financed and were guaranteed for life. At one point and probably still in some cases they are higher quality than what is typically available.
Before credit card companies started giving credit to anybody with a pulse, the snap on guy allowed you to purchase a tool you needed to complete a job but couldn’t afford until pay day at the end of the week. The catch was he would be there at the end of the week to collect your money or if you are far enough behind, repo the tools that still have a street value in excess of the loan amount. Some folks used the credit responsibly many didn’t.
With the advent of decent to mid quality, reasonably priced, usually imported tools and the proliferation of easy credit cards and next day delivery I’m not sure that niche for the tool trucks still exists. At least to the extent it used too.
Same thing goes for toolboxes. Back in the day the truck brands where the best boxes! Hands down! Now there’s a lot of extremely competitive options.
Don’t get me wrong you can customize a snap on box and they are beautiful works of metal and organizational nirvana. But if you don’t have financial goals accomplished like: own a house, have your car paid off, maxing out a retirement etc etc you shouldn’t be buying a $10,000 toolbox when a $2000 box will do just fine.
One place the truck companies still have a firm grasp is the scan tools. The subscription services are absurd. I think some of that is because the OEMs charge so much? But the amount of detail and diagnostic capabilities available on one of those computers is insane. Short of dealership level diagnostic capabilities I don’t think anybody else gets close to snap on in that regard.
Mopar
They still have some specialty stuff that nobody else does.
Example: I would love to have the Snap On TZ1/FZ1 extension connectors, but you really need at least 2 of each size at $30ish each, and best I can tell, nobody else makes something like it. Since I’m retired now, I really can’t justify $125 for tools I will probably never need. I’m sure someone like Tekton could make them for $10 each or less and I’m just as sure I would buy them if they did, just in case I did need them in the future.
mikedt
Had to google that TZ1/FZ1 thing and I have to ask, what’s the use case? It seems like it would put a ratchet or breaker bar in the same angle as using just the socket so I can’t figure out some weird case I’d need it.
Brett
I love GearWrench but their quality has gone downhill a lot. All of their sockets I have- impact and chrome – are very soft metal and wear out fast. Impact swivel sockets are partially aluminum… they lose chunks rubbing on things as they turn. Although… the Matco tools I have are the same way. GearWrench these days is on par with Icon or Craftsman, their selection is better but tool quality is more important to me and it’s simply lacking.
Mike Earl
Gearwrench is pure garbage! I’ve been a technician for over 30 years, and nothing compares to Snap-On. I would buy Icon by Harbor Freight before Gearwrench. Customer service is horrible, just like their tools!
Travis
Snap on prices are plain dumb. Happy to pay for quality when I need it- but even a Lista/Vidmar/Lyon/Rosseau can be had for half of (or less) than the price of that Snap on box, and is likely of better quality.
SlowEng
I have a very unpopular opinion on this topic. You don’t actually need that many tools for most things, especially if you are just working around the house or your own projects.
I had always dreamed of having a complete set of mechanics tool every size, every combination, everything so that I would not be caught out without any particular tool. Save my money up and buy a ” master mechanic” set. I spent a good amount of time as a professional aircraft mechanic so it’s not like I didn’t have a need for a complete set.
However over time I found I really could get by with a much more narrow set of tools. Less tools are easier to store and move. So now I really try to focus on buying good tools I actually need versus those I may want or told I need.
Maybe most people don’t actually need a master mechanic set, myself included.
Jerry
I kind of agree. I have a fairly narrow set of high quality tools some Proto, Williams, and USA made.Craftsman Industrial (many people weren’t aware at one time Craftsman had a top quality industrial/professional line). For tools used less often, or as I call them less critical tools, I go with cheaper tools to fill out my needs. Gives me a fleshed.out set with a top quality core of the most used tools.
OldDominionDIYer
Costs are awfully high for the “premium” truck brands, they’re good but not that good! If you make your living in automotive repair then I can see investing in the best tools for the job and if that happens to be Snap On, then I get it, but I think there are very suitable cheaper options that work well, including Gear Wrench and others like Milwaukee. I agree with others that the diagnostic equipment is what really makes the difference, a modern ASE mechanic aint going to get far without them.
Greg
If you don’t ever use tools your entire life Snap
On is a great thing to buy. I have been buying Snap On tools from age 17 but never new always from pawn shops , flea markets and classified ads. I have just about always bought for 1/4 or 1/3 of new price or less. Snap On is easy to resell and make a profit and slowly over my life I have a huge Snap On collection and it is one of the few brands than really holds its resale value. I think buying Snap On tools is a no-brainer its a good tool you can use them sell them pass them on to your kids. And I have been reading for years on forums people saying just buy Craftsman or Armstrong or SK and everyone knows what happened there. The prices I find Snap On tools are a lot of times cheaper than Icon or Grearwrench and so many people get in and out of the auto repair business and those $6000 dollar tool boxes can be found $1000. Snap On tools you can’t go wrong if you take your time to find the deals and I would bet they will be around a long time compared to others brands.
Harrison
I’m going to play devils advocate for a minute, and say the premium brands have their place- *Provided you’re doing the right work, for the right clientele*
Let’s image I’m bringing in my luxury sports car for some expensive out-of-warranty repairs. I love to drive, but I’m not the type to get my hands dirty.
The service manager has just informed me the ________ has failed, and it’s going to cost high four figures, maybe five. He invites me to the service bay to explain the work.
To feel good about dropping $$$$, I’d better see a team of clean-cut techs in freshly laundered jumpsuits leaning over my well-protected paint-work. Naturally, they’ll be pulling shiny tools from a line of gleaming red tool cabinets.
Obviously there is much more to doing good work than expensive tools, but image does matter. You can be the slickest wrench on the planet, but if your shop is a mess, you’re just not going to pull in the best clientele. Of course, some people will deliberately seek out grimy hole-in-the-wall garages in search of the best price- (been there myself) but are those really the most lucrative clients?
The same applies to all sorts of work- You’ll see people in these comments expounding on the virtues of their Husky shop vac vs. an expensive Festool dust extractor, and I totally get it. Most of us see inherent virtue in making do, and producing good work with less. If I had to bet, I’d say the most skilled finish-carpenters in the world are getting it done with 30 year old corded Ryobi tools and a Chevy Astro van- Sadly they probably aren’t the ones seeing the biggest pay days.
On the other hand, it’s easy to misinterpret the logic, and convince yourself that buying expensive tools will unlock a new level in your career. This aspirational mindset is where the tool trucks can take advantage and become predatory, especially with novice mechanics. The sad reality is not everyone gets to be the master mechanic at a premium import garage, or a luxury dealer, and some naive apprentices bite off more than they stand to benefit.
I’m glad there are quality tool options from Taiwan etc. that fill the need at a reasonable price point. As an individual who does some basic maintenance and repairs on our vehicles and equipment, I obviously have no use for the fancy stuff, other than reliable functionality. Most of my tools are ‘Maximum’ store brand from Canadian Tire.
I actually do own one Snap-On product- a CDI 1/2″ torque wrench I bought on sale for $160 in like 2019. It’s a really nice tool, made in USA. I was going to buy one from Canadian Tire, but they didn’t have the best reviews, and still cost $100. (not on sale.) I needed it that day, and ended up with the CDI. No regrets.
If you intend to keep your tools for a long time, I think it’s worth exploring some of the less consumer-facing industrial quality brands, even the ones owned by Snap-on, like Williams. If you’re smart about it, you can find them for reasonable prices, and you’re getting basically the best, or next to best, for not much more than store brand MSRPS.
Stuart
That seems like a fringe case.
Snap-on generated $4.73 billion in sales in 2023. How many of that was to auto techs making 5-figure repairs to luxury sports cars?
blocky
I don’t know whether that’s fringe or not, but I think Snap-on encourages that perception, and the inverse is probably true — a high percentage of luxury sports car mechanics do have a healthy amount of snap-on in their shops.
Related to your original point, one might estimate that half of that sales figure (or more) is tied to the non-linear added-value of brand-perception. Gear wrench does seem to be aiming for this very large and very apparent gap.
Even Snap-on’s historical advantage of same-day replacement is becoming less significant in many parts of the country where we can frequently get regionally warehoused items within 24 hours.
If I were adding another bay to a business, having a pre-organized set-up doesn’t seem like a bad way to go about it.
Stuart
Is Snap-on a premium brand, or a luxury brand?
The differentiation is based on how much of the cost or value is tied to appearances, perceptions, and other such aspects.
Regarding appearances, there’s a lot of peer pressure in most professional industries. I would think that’s a greater influence than mechanic-client appearances.
In most auto shops, there’s no direct relationship or interactions between the mechanic and customer. The service manager handles all that. Customers rarely if ever see the tool boxes or work bays, let alone get close enough to read the brand name.
Matt
This is ironic to me, considering there’s a Gearwrench tool truck visiting shops around my town now.
blocky
Which seems to support the assertion. Gearwrench hasn’t historically been a tool truck brand; I wonder if it’s under Gearwrench corporate or franchised.
Nathan
Yeah I have t seen a gear wrench truck. But the appeal to an airline mechanic is tool truck comes right to the hangar. If I have to rebuild my 3/8 ratchet tool truck guy just hands me a new one
I have to launch that plane in the next hour. So the price of that 120 dollar ratchet is worth it. Now the tool trolleys I admit are really status symbols. Replace airline mech with dealer shop tech that’s flat rate.. he needs to turn that car now. So tool truck that has replacement is worth some money. Or tool truck that has nifty thing that make a job faster is worth a lot.
Now another bit. Rolls Royce and Ferrari mechanics most likely use hazet tools. A lot of your foreign companies have their specialty tooling made by companies like hazet or stahlewhile
Rx9
Through a good friend (who is a master tech), I had the experience of once getting on board a tool truck to see what was available and at what price. I can confidently say I was horrified at what I saw. There were tools on offer for at least double what MSRP was at big box stores (for even the same brands), and quadruple what you could find online.
I also remember occasionally talking to guys in his shop and in the course of discussion, letting them know about fantastic online deals on stuff I knew they would use and need. I even offered to a few I trusted to purchase the item myself and they could pay me back a week or so. To my amazement, none of them seemed to really care.
It then occurred to me precisely what kept the tool trucks in business. Convenience and financing. Mostly, financing. The ideas of compound interest and monthly cash flow were beyond a number of the younger guys in the shop.
I honestly believe that the majority of what’s baked into the price of truck tools is not warranty costs or even truck operating costs, but simply bad debt allowance. I’ve had the privilege of observing the inner workings of the rent-to-own business (which many at the shop also frequented,
along with payday loan establishments) and it appears that a similar dynamic is at play here. Heavily inflated upfront costs play a role in mitigating default risk. In addition, there are a lot of people who can find credit available at the truck, but struggle obtaining it elsewhere. This particular dynamic helps to enforce payment compliance, which helps the bottom line, even if the total debt is never satisfied.
That said, there is probably a good portion of revenue also coming from a slim majority of end users for whom money is simply no object, probably luxury garages and racing teams.
There are quite a few mechanics who make an effort to control their equipment costs and avoid this trap, though. You find a lot of comments from them under the tools on offer at Amazon and Harbor Freight. They often love to rave about how much they save over the truck costs. In a weird way, these folks strike me as the blue collar equivalent of college grads who opted to be commuter students at state schools instead of paying hefty (and sadly, also easily financed) out-of-state tuition and boarding costs elsewhere.
Ultimately, I applaud Gearwrench for making this pitch, which may gain some traction in these trying times. Its nice to have a top quality supplier with great service, but all of that advantage can be negated if costs are too high. If Gearwrench can effectively communicate a higher value proposition, their market niche will be secured.
MM
I spotted a Gearwrench tool truck today! It seems they are taking on the likes of Snap-On, etc, directly!